Ellington

Since Mississippi State University President Robert H. "Doc" Foglesong announced his resignation last Friday, students have vocalized mixed feelings about his two-year administration. A decorated four-star Air Force general, Foglesong held promise as a new, strong leader who would promote academic advancement. But many students and faculty members found his dictatorial leadership style overbearing.

Foglesong raised red flags in February when he called for the removal of daffodils from flowerbeds on campus for aesthetic reasons. After students complained, forming Facebook groups and circulating e-mails to local media, grounds workers stopped the initiative.

"Over a period of years, we have had flower gardens around campus that are not maintained as well as they should and flowers in those gardens have grown to be sparse," Foglesong told the Starkville Daily News. "If we're going to have flower beds, which I advocate, we're going to have robust flower beds."

Foglesong said the bulbs are being stored on campus.

More problems arose when alumni brought to Foglesong's attention the unseemly obstructions visible through the School of Architecture's windows.

The obstructions inside the building were light boxes—stacked one on top of the other—used as models to illustrate the filtering of light in east-facing buildings. Administrators asked for the removal of the boxes, which angered many students who felt their right to academic expression was suppressed.

"[N]ever before have we been told to take down stuff or change the manner that we learn, which is viewing, and seeing, and understanding, which these light boxes represented, and kind of allowed people to learn through them," senior architecture student Rachel Davis told the Jackson Free Press.

Students took their complaints to local media, which forced Foglesong to address students' concerns and anger in a Feb. 28 State-gram.

"A simple system of a pull-down shade was suggested to permit full lighting when up and full screening when down—much as we do in our homes every day. That should have sufficed to curtail the complaints I was receiving about clutter, without interfering with our students' shadowbox construction projects. And folks, that was the last input I made," he wrote. "Not to remove the shadow boxes, not to impede the light during periods of student learning, but to find a way to balance learning with appropriate campus appearance in a reasonable way. But, let me be clear. I support the decisions made by the college leadership. Leave the shadow boxes where (they) are or move them—whatever makes sense. But I also support screening that area when it's not being used. So there you have it."

Foglesong went on to write: "Academic freedom is a fundamental concept at this university, but that doesn't mean freedom from the responsibility to ensure that our graduates leave here understanding what their employers will expect of them in a professional setting—things like taking care of the employer's property, workplace appearance, and resources."

Architecture student Bryan Norwood, 23, said that faculty and students felt slighted by Foglesong's remarks.

"Our faculty was extremely hurt by what he was saying," Norwood said. "He basically said that our department was unprofessional and that we weren't learning how to do our jobs well."

Since the Feb. 28 address, however, Foglesong has made steps to ensure that the learning process is not impeded.

"He came over and met with our faculty last Wednesday, and the way the faculty described it is that he agreed to pretty much everything the faculty asked of him," Norwood said. "The projects that he had asked to be removed from the window were moved back into the window, and he seemed to be really responsive to our faculty."

Norwood and Davis attribute the change in attitude to Foglesong listening to the most powerful voice on campus: students.

"I think students made a big difference in this situation by voicing our opinion," Norwood said. "We should be aware that voicing our opinions can make a difference because on a university campus, we are the most powerful voice of change."

Foglesong did not specify his reasons for leaving MSU, only that he made his decision in the interest of "helping the university move forward." He has expressed his desire to leave his post no later than June 30.

Foglesong could not be reached for comment.